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Time to look ahead to Training Camp, with the rookies and quarterbacks reporting to the NovaCare Complex on July 23, a moment here to look back at a very special 1991 Eagles defense. The buzz is building for the 2017 season, and here are some thoughts on the Eagles as we inch toward camp ...

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There is a fundamental philosophical question here. Was it wise to be a rebuilding team investing in ST players so heavily? Yes the STs were great. But when rebuilding isn't the goal to use as many roster spots on developing potential starters. Instead of those guys that are purely emergency backups at their respective positions.

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Part of me wants to keep RMat. Having him and Blount punishing people is very appealing. There should be some matchups that our Jumbo Set could just crush people. Bringing in that extra Olineman and potentially having a monster sized FB. In today's pass happy NFL it's hard for teams to invest in Jumbo run support defenders. And nothing is better as a fan than when your team is just shoving it down your opponents throats with no recourse for them.

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There is a fundamental philosophical question here. Was it wise to be a rebuilding team investing in ST players so heavily? Yes the STs were great. But when rebuilding isn't the goal to use as many roster spots on developing potential starters. Instead of those guys that are purely emergency backups at their respective positions.

I think the player stays if he has value and is a capable back up. What happens is when certain players are on the bubble, then they would take players who can do more than one thing like special teams... At least that is what I feel....

An undersized NFL center, Jason Kelce insisted on the WIP morning radio show Monday that he's more effective as a run blocker than a pass protector. He prefers to pave the way for ball-carriers, too.…………"Having a guy like LeGarrette Blount behind me is only going to make my job easier," Kelce said Monday during an appearance on WIP. "There aren't going to be any of these one-armed tackles, where he's reaching out while I'm still blocking the guy and somehow he drags them down. It's going to take everything you got to bring that guy down."…………………Blount led the league with 18 rushing touchdowns for the Super Bowl champion Patriots last season, and at 250 pounds, he's easily the heaviest running back on Philadelphia's roster. He also outweighs every Eagles linebacker.…………While Kelce's been Philly's starter since arriving in the NFL in 2011……………When the Eagles signed veteran interior lineman Stefen Wisniewski to a three-year deal in March, many analysts viewed the move as a way for the Eagles to add insurance behind Kelce, in case his play fell off or an appealing trade offer emerged. Kelce, though, remains in Philadelphia and spent all spring taking first-team snaps in practice. Coaches also voiced support for the seventh-year veteran.……………

With Blount in the fold, Kelce believes he'll be performing more consistently in 2017. The Eagles' other new faces on offense, like former Pro Bowl receivers Alshon Jeffery and Torrey Smith, also have Kelce re-energized, even if he would rather carve holes for Blount. "All of these guys have a piece ... that can fit into very well in this system," Kelce said. "I'm excited. I was excited watching these guys in spring ball. I'm excited to see how all this translates when we start playing actual games."

Looks like Kelce's the man at C unless he lays an egg. If this OL doesn't open up things for Blount,then there's a problem somewhere! What really made me roll my eyes though was reading "With Blount in the fold, Kelce believes he'll be performing more consistently in 2017." WTH does the addition of Blount have to do with Kelce's consistent performance? He should be going full-out no matter who the players are around him!

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I know everyone is giving Doug a do-over this year and rightfully so, but I cannot shake the feeling he is going to lose us 2-3 games this year with his play calling/decisions. I hope I am wrong and can post it here in 4 months, but until he proves me wrong I am not thinking play-offs for this season. Too many new players that need to gel, which will take time. Still have issues at CB, although I believe the position is better this season. I also feel Wentz will need another year of growth before we see his full potential. You have to expect he will still have some mis-reads and throw an INT he shouldn't.

I like this team and am real happy the direction it is going. I could very well be way off base in my feelings, but I need to see signs that all of the above are non issues before jumping on any Play-Off wagon. It is too early to make any predictions, but the Eagles will most likely end up around 8-9 win area assuming we stay healthy as do other teams.

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While I can appreciate your concerns, Stine gimme a little more optimism than a 1-2 game improvement!

I actually agree with almost everything you said, those things are gonna happen. But keep in mind, Wentz was basically the #3 guy right up until the opener without even getting a full PS in as that.

But not just that: Smallwood was a rookie. Seuamalu was a rookie. Mills was a rookie. Big V was a rookie. Vaeao rookie. Wisniewski, new. DGB was new. . Treggs. Turner. Defensive coach, QB coach, Head Coach - all new. There were also others but i think these names cover the meat and potatoes.

Holy smokes, after listing those i am pretty pleased that we got 7 wins last year. lol

Now we've got a fair amount of new guys, and the gelling has to begin all over again. But think, how does this year's newcomers compare to last year's? (on paper cuz that's all we got). Higher skill level? Lower skill level? I will assume we all agree that this year's newcomers, rookie or vet, are of higher level players than of last year's. (if not please feel free to converse!) Now Wentz gets to at least become familiar with his guys before PS even starts. PD has had some time to evaluate, as have all the other coaches. That's a huge factor! And for what it's worth, our past WR coach sucked. Now, by all accounts, it seems we have a guru.

The TLDR version: I think we are in such a better place this year when the season begins compared to last year. The drama factor alone makes a huge difference just as much as the peeps on the roster.I think that gives us 2-3 more than last year. Again, all on paper.

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*For my own sake of boredom, this is a half-***ed, incomplete and probably poorly formatted list of what I came up with on a quick search. It's in no particular order and the names that are side by side aren't meant to be a comparison between the two. 2016 vs 2017 newcomers.

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While I can appreciate your concerns, Stine gimme a little more optimism than a 1-2 game improvement!

I actually agree with almost everything you said, those things are gonna happen. But keep in mind, Wentz was basically the #3 guy right up until the opener without even getting a full PS in as that.

But not just that: Smallwood was a rookie. Seuamalu was a rookie. Mills was a rookie. Big V was a rookie. Vaeao rookie. Wisniewski, new. DGB was new. . Treggs. Turner. Defensive coach, QB coach, Head Coach - all new. There were also others but i think these names cover the meat and potatoes.

Holy smokes, after listing those i am pretty pleased that we got 7 wins last year. lol

Now we've got a fair amount of new guys, and the gelling has to begin all over again. But think, how does this year's newcomers compare to last year's? (on paper cuz that's all we got). Higher skill level? Lower skill level? I will assume we all agree that this year's newcomers, rookie or vet, are of higher level players than of last year's. (if not please feel free to converse!) Now Wentz gets to at least become familiar with his guys before PS even starts. PD has had some time to evaluate, as have all the other coaches. That's a huge factor! And for what it's worth, our past WR coach sucked. Now, by all accounts, it seems we have a guru.

The TLDR version: I think we are in such a better place this year when the season begins compared to last year. The drama factor alone makes a huge difference just as much as the peeps on the roster.I think that gives us 2-3 more than last year. Again, all on paper.

Well, although we lost a couple due to fumble/bad decisions last year, I still feel we will lose at least 2-3 more due to bad decisions this season. Also, keep in mind we were fortunate a few times too. Add in toughest schedule and I do not see more than 9 wins. As I said, I hope I am wrong.

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If the Eagles want to compete for the Division Title, then they only need to sign Revis to a 1 year contract- 5 mil. I am sure he would agree to that and we now are much better team. Has he lost a step, yes. Will he get beat long? Probably, but not as bad as others we are considering to start. Also, this will fix itself next year when a certain 2nd round pick can play.....

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One thing Carson did as a rookie was to extend plays. His ability to do this kept us in games where there was no hope otherwise. He made games close. Let's hope this continues this year and we win the close ones this year. Go Eagles!!

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Stine - thought you were an am person? C'mon, lighten up! We haven't seen these guys in pads yet. A bunch of them are working out together during the OS, a good sign. I haven't had much to say lately cause one - physical therapy is a b***h, but mainly cause there's almost nothing to talk about. We're both too um "experienced" to know it's way too early to have high or low expectations. I do like that basically the entire receiving corp is working out w/ Wentz. That didn't go on yrs ago and surely yrs from now the C's & RB's will join in, developing into full team either together or separately down the road from there. Funny, never hear of D's getting together in the OS. My 2 cents - there's a dollar key but not a cent key - discontinue the damn penny already.

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Well, although we lost a couple due to fumble/bad decisions last year, I still feel we will lose at least 2-3 more due to bad decisions this season. Also, keep in mind we were fortunate a few times too. Add in toughest schedule and I do not see more than 9 wins. As I said, I hope I am wrong.

I never really understood the strength of schedule it is all based on what teams did last year.....But we see it every year that teams rise and fall all the time.....Looking at our schedule I could see a very tough year for us but at the same time could see a fairly easy schedule as well.... I mean two teams in LA Rams in rebuild changing HC new D scheme, Chargers on the move new HC(the temporary stadium seats like 30,000 not much of a home advantage)....Redskins lot of changes on the roster and FO how does that effect them, Dallas seems set to regress, Giants are all over the place never seem consistent, 49ners/Bears still seem like clear rebuilds....What version of the Panthers and Cards do we see this year?????

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The Skins have beat us like a gazillion times in a row. No way am I looking at those matchups as gimmes. Dallas was on top of the whole league last year. And the full NFL schedule analysis points to our game IN dallas as the heaviest weighted game on our schedule towards making the playoffs. 60 percent chance of making the playoffs versus 27 percent with a loss in that one game. And the Giants have really put together a pretty legit defense. Who can win their battles in this matchup? We know their run game has struggled and their Oline is questionable but will we be able to take advantage of that? Or will their uncoverable receivers romp all over us? Tough

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I know everyone is giving Doug a do-over this year and rightfully so, but I cannot shake the feeling he is going to lose us 2-3 games this year with his play calling/decisions. I hope I am wrong and can post it here in 4 months, but until he proves me wrong I am not thinking play-offs for this season. Too many new players that need to gel, which will take time. Still have issues at CB, although I believe the position is better this season. I also feel Wentz will need another year of growth before we see his full potential. You have to expect he will still have some mis-reads and throw an INT he shouldn't.

I like this team and am real happy the direction it is going. I could very well be way off base in my feelings, but I need to see signs that all of the above are non issues before jumping on any Play-Off wagon. It is too early to make any predictions, but the Eagles will most likely end up around 8-9 win area assuming we stay healthy as do other teams.

After going through the schedule I see 10 wins. I sure hope that I'm right and you're wrong! Not to say that I'm right,but much rather for the team is why I hope that you're wrong. ☺